Bromley Reform Synagogue

Bromley, Kent

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Congregation Data
Name:	Bromley Reform Synagogue
Former Name:	Bromley & District Synagogue (until about 1971)⁽ⁱ⁾
Address:	28 Highland Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 4AD (since 1967)⁽ⁱⁱ⁾
Current Status:	Active
Date Founded:	1964⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾
Ritual:	Reform
Affiliation:	A constituent synagogue of the Movement for Reform Judaism (formerly the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain).
Website:	http://www.bromleyshul.org.uk/
Ministers: (To view a short profile of a minister who also served other UK congregations - name in blue - hold the cursor over his or her name.)	Rabbi David Freeman - from about 1976 until about 1987^(v) Rabbi Sylvia Helen Fay Rothschild - from 1987 until 2002^(vi) Rabbi Tony Hammond - from about 2003 until 2013^(vii) Rabbi Jason Holtz^(viii) - from September 2013 until May 2018 Rabbi Chava Koster^(ix) - from January 2019 until about November/December 2019 Rabbi Mati Kirschenbaum^(x) - from 2020 until present (January 2021)
Membership Data:	National Reports & Surveys^(xv) 1977 - 158 male (or household) members and 87 female members 1983 - 315 male (or household) members and 63 female members 1990 - 260 members (comprising 140 households, 48 individual male and 72 individual female members) 1996 - 280 members (comprising 160 households, 35 individual male and 85 individual female members) 2001 - 300 members (comprising 134 households, 44 individual male and 122 individual female members) 2010 & 2016 - listed as having 200 to 299 members (by household)
Congregation's Newsletter:	Highlight - viewable on-line
Legal & Charitable Status:	On 6 November 2002, the congregation was incorporated as a registered company, Bromley & District Reform Synagogue Limited (company no. 04583645), a private company limited by guarantee without share capital, which was dormant until 30 November 2003. The congregation was previously an unincorporated charity, whose assets were transfered to the company on 1 December 2003. It is also a registered charity, with an alternate name, Bromley Reform Synagogue, whose current registration (no. 1098431) dates from 8 July 2003.^(xvi)
Local Government District:	Bromley is a suburban town situated about 10 miles south-east of central London. It is now the administrative centre of the London Borough of Bromley, the southeasternmost of the London boroughs, bordering the county of Kent. Until 1965, Bromley was within the former Municipal Borough of Bromley.^(xvii) Bromley has never had a substantial Jewish population. Bibliography - London
Registration District (BMD):	Bromley (since 1 July 1837) - Link to Register Office website
Cemetery Information:	Membership of the synagogue includes burial rights through the Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS) at one of its cemeteries, principally the Western Cemetery in Cheshunt. There is also the option (through the JJBS) of a Woodland Burial in Cheshunt or cremation at Golders Green Crematorium.
Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above) (i) This was the name under which the congregation was listing in Jewish Year Books through 1971. ↵ (ii) Congregation's website, accessed 1 June 2018. ↵ (iii) Jewish Year Books and Congregation's website. ↵ (iv) Reserved. (v) Based upon Rabbi Freeman's listing in Jewish Year Books from 1977 through 1987. ↵ (vi) Based upon Rabbi Sylvia's listing in Jewish Year Books from 1988 through 2003 and her "Who's Who" entry in Jewish Year Books (latest 2015). ↵ (vii) Based upon Rabbi Hammond's listing in Jewish Year Books from 2004 through 2013. ↵ (viii) Profile formerly on congregation's website,, accessed 1 June 2018, which also included a report that Rabbi Holtz's last Sabbath with the congragation was on 26 May 2018. Rabbi Holtz was ordained in 2010. ↵ (ix) Based upon notice in the congregation's newsletter, January 2019. However, Rabbi Chava was no longer listed on the congregation's website, when accessed 31 December 2019 but was still minister of the congregation as of 5 November 2019, based upon an earlier report dated 15 November 2019. Rabbi Chava was ordained in 1997, being the first women to be ordained in The Netherlands. She subsequently served as associate rabbi of Temple B'nai Abraham, Livingston, New Jersey and was later rabbi at the Village Temple, New York City (1999-2016) before joining Bromley. (Profile on website of film " Kolishah".) . ↵ (x) Congregation's website acessed 5 January 2021. Rabbi Kirschenbaum was born in Wroclaw, Poland and received ordination from Leo Baeck College in 2018. ↵ (xi) to (xiv) Reserved. (xv) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the various reports. (↵ (xvi) Charities Commissioners website (in beta trial stage), accessed 1 June 2018. ↵ (xvii) The London Borough of Bromley, an Outer London Borough within the Greater London administrative area, was created on 1 April 1965 upon the merger of the Municipal Borough of Bromley with Municipal Borough of Beckenham and the Urban Districts of Penge and Orpington and the Chislehurst part of the Urban District of Chislehurst and Sidcup. All these areas had then been part of the County of Kent. ↵

On-line Articles and Other Material
relating to this Congregation

Annual Reports and Financial Statements filed with Companies House and/or the Charities Commission (pdf):
- For years ended 30 November 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Bibliography - London.

List of Reform Judaism Congregations

Jewish Congregations in the London Borough of Bromley

List of Member Synagogues of the Jewish Joint Burial Society

Jewish Congregations in Greater London (other than East End)

Greater London home page

Page created: 26 October 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes added: 1 June 2018
Latest revision or update: 5 January 2019

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